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Wickenheiser “tweaked” her knee in the CIS semifinal March 9 while playing for the University of Calgary Dinos.

She was unable to play the following day in a 3-2 loss to the University of Montreal in the championship game.

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“If it was the Olympic gold-medal final, I think I would have played, but I just couldn’t take a risk with world championships coming up,” the Canadian team captain said Monday. “I just didn’t feel 100 per cent safe at that moment. I tried, but I couldn’t risk it.”

The forward from Shaunavon, Sask., said she skated Monday and will join her Canadian teammates for pre-tournament preparation March 26 in Pembroke, Ont.

“It was a minor injury I needed a little bit of time with, but I’ll be good to go for camp,” Wickenheiser said.

Dan Church coached Canada to victory in Burlington last year. He’ll be behind Canada’s bench again both in Ottawa and at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Along with scout Melody Davidson, Church chose the Canadian team for Ottawa. The 28 players invited to try out for the Olympic team will be named shortly after the world championship.

“The decision was based on their collection of work over last year and this year and these just happened to be the players who have performed the most consistently and have earned the opportunity,” Church said.

“I think that’s a good thing leading into the world championships and then moving towards centralization next year. This is their time to perform.”

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Canada’s roster for Ottawa is virtually identical to the victorious 2012 team, with one exception.

Two-time Olympian Sarah Vaillancourt of Sherbrooke, Que., is back on the team after an extended absence due to a hip injury and hernia surgery.

“I’m extremely happy to see Sarah Vaillancourt back on the team,” said Caroline Ouellette, who scored the overtime winner against the U.S. last year.

“She has worked so hard to get healthy again. I’m sure it was a really hard decision for the coaching staff to cut one player from last year’s team. It is very sad because you can’t really find anyone that works harder than Vicki Bendus.”

Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford will play in their 12th world championship and Ouellette her 11th in Ottawa, which was the site of the first women’s world tournament in 1990.

Canada opens April 2 against the U.S. at Scotiabank Place.

Switzerland, last year’s bronze medallist, and Finland is also in Canada’s group. Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany and Russia round out the world championship field.

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